A Letter from our Pastors:

Dear St. John’s Member,

Greetings in the name of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ!

As we plan our summer activities and schedules, there always seems to be a sense of anticipation. It is exciting to think about taking long walks, going on vacations, playing tennis and golf, and going to the beach. Just to be able to sit in the hot sun with some ice tea is great.  Our summer days provide a respite from our normal hectic pace.

As we make plans for our summers and anticipate some good times, I am reminded of the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 

The anticipation we experience regarding our lives on Earth cannot compare to the eager anticipation we feel regarding our relationship with our Lord and His plans for us, for we know His plans for us are all good. He’s told us so! He promises to be found when we seek Him (Matthew 7:8), and He promises never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). No matter what this life holds for us, we are assured that God’s good plans for us are for our good and will culminate in eternity with Him.

While you are enjoying your summer, continue to seek the Lord with all your heart by being in worship regularly, reading your Bible, spending time in prayer, and worshiping through your offerings. Our seasonal activities and schedules may change but God’s love for us is constant. In response to His constant love, grace, and mercy, we should be compelled to put Him first in our plans this summer, as well as in the fall, spring, and winter.

May God’s blessings be with you as you continue your faithful stewardship of all the blessings that He has entrusted to you.

God’s blessings on your summer! 

Serving together in Christ.

Pastors Haupt & DeVries

 

 

 

Upcoming OWL Event:

OWLS Potluck Game Night. Sunday, July 20, 5:30 p.m. (eat at 6:00). Bring a dish to pass, any card or table games  --- **AND YOUR OWN TABLE SERVICE!!!  **We are going "green" -- not using paper or plastic dishes or plastic utensils. Any questions - Call Peggy Erhorn (616) 844-5065 or e-mail perhorn@sbcglobal.net Hope to see you there. J

Ablaze! Torch Relay

“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised” Psalm 113:3, was the theme of the Ablaze! Torch Relay “Coast to Coast”, and praised our Lord’s name was, even before the waterfront event started on Tuesday, June 17.

How? On Sunday afternoon two days prior to the event, I looked at the cross on Dewey Hill and thought, “I wonder if the cross could be up for Tuesday evening”. I made several phone calls on Monday, and Tuesday at noon as I drove to the waterfront and looked at the hill, my eyes welled up with tears as my request to the City of Grand Haven had been granted. I knew that as we worshiped at the waterfront on Tuesday evening, we could focus on the cross of Jesus on Dewey Hill.

There were so many volunteers and many groups that worked together that made the evening of June 17 run so smoothly. Thank you first of all to all who prayed for this event and for me throughout it. You were appreciated! A special thanks to David and Eileen Carter, Sharon Rothe, Bob Held, Anonymous Couple for the Running Circles gift certificate, Wendy Schmidt, Jerry Goresch, Tracy Wood, Mark Brooky, Bill Kooi, Ross Kittleman, Gordon Ritter, Mike Dorman and Lakeshore Lutheran Praise Band, and the Grand Haven Mayor Roger Bergman.

If you fit into any of these following groups, I THANK YOU, Runners, Sponsors, Water Bottle Labelers, Poster Hangers, Invitation Staplers, Waterfront Inviters, Tuesday Morning Popcorn Baggers, Waterfront Popcorn Crew, and the Set-up and Tear-down Crew. I thank also Charter TV, WGHN, Grand Haven Tribune, Wesco, Meijer, St. John's PTL, and Thrivent for their large contributions to our cause.

Thank you to the local Thrivent chapter who not only gave us $1,200.00 in operating funds, but also sponsored runners $.50 on every $1.00 raised for the cause of the Michigan District’s 125th Anniversary Thank Offering for mission planting and providing scholarships for students studying to be professional church workers at Concordia College, Ann Arbor through The Future is Now -  Michigan District Church Worker Endowment Fund. At St. John's direct sponsorships alone were over $2,300.00.

Because of the efforts and prayers of so many, St. John's Lutheran Church was able to be a beacon in the community sharing Jesus to between 400 - 500 people who attended the event. To God be the Glory!

With thanks, Patti Kooi

 

 

 

 

 

Coming soon -  Presidential visit!

Since 2008 has begun we at St. John’s Lutheran have been attempting to undergird our core values by bringing in various guest speakers to share those themes with us in worship and bible study. During July we will be privileged to have in our midst (July 12,13) the Rev. Dr. Thomas Ahlersmeyer, president of Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Ahlersmeyer is no stranger to St. John’s. He was with us during the year of our 140^th anniversary celebration. We look forward to another Spirit led and filled presentation of God’s Word from his heart and lips, as well as an update on the mission of Concordia, Ann Arbor and an overview of the educational ministries and opportunities of our Synod in general.  We eagerly anticipate being able to glean some insights and tidbits of wisdom and knowledge for our local ministry and mission also.

 

 

St. John’s Lutheran Church Opportunities To Serve

Giving Plus:

This program, offered by Thrivent, provides a significant opportunity to leverage our receipts as a church and school quickly and for many years to come. Members of Thrivent who have certain financial products can receive matching funds on their offerings to the school. We need a team that will facilitate the development of this program at St. Johns. This is a one year commitment and will be instrumental in finding ways to reach all Thrivent members who qualify and encouraging participation in this program. It may even result in encouraging Lutherans to purchase these products so that we can better leverage these matching funds.

Project HOPE (Help Our Parish Educate):

This program allows other members of our church and community, including businesses that have a passion for Christian Education to provide gifts as well. This program will comprise primarily of an annual campaign, most likely through letters and include monitoring of receipts and thank you notes during the campaign. It is thought that this campaign will be held each spring. In the off season, this group can further develop a database of names that are willing to support a quality Christian Education in our community.

Project 12 Baskets:

This program allows people to donate household items to the church that can then be auctioned off through e-bay. We are contracting with a company that provides the full service. On a monthly basis this company will pick up our items, list them and when sold, provide tax deductible receipts to the contributor. We need a team to set this program up and see that it runs smoothly.

Extra Giving Opportunities:

Our Stewardship Life Board is contemplating ways to provide opportunity for Extra-Mile Giving at St. John’s. If you have ideas you would like to share, or would like to help this board organize an opportunity to joyfully give, we would be grateful to include you in this process.

Fund Raising Opportunities:

There are a variety of ways in which individuals and groups can raise funds to defray the financial burden of providing for St. John’s ministry. It could be through large team oriented events like a spaghetti dinner or a car wash, or it could be individual

 

services offered. We need a team that will encourage us as a congregation to find ways to facilitate these events. One way to get this started might be to arrange a program loosely around the parable of the talents that we hear about in Matthew 25. As a congregation we encourage everyone to find ways to give through service by giving each family in the congregation a talent (a coin), say a five dollar bill, and encourage them to return it to the Lord in abundance.

Longer Term Opportunities:

Various Boards are beginning to consider new ways to involve our sister congregations in contributing to the day school mission, in terms of time, talents and treasure. They are also looking for ways to leverage grant opportunities. If you have a passion for building these relationships, or an expertise in fund raising, we welcome your contribution.

 

Musical Notes

Summer Soloists

Even though our choirs are on summer recess, it would be nice to have special music in our weekend worship services. If you would like to sing or play an instrumental solo, please speak to one of our organists (Connie Behm and Priscilla Vink) or keyboard players (Rita Scalici, Tracy Wood, and Priscilla Vink). They will be happy to help you participate in our music ministry.

 

Plan Ahead for Choirs

By the time you locate your fans and beach chairs, the back-to-school ads start appearing in the local newspaper. Where does the summer go?

Don’t let fall and the new school year catch you by surprise. Plan ahead to join one of the choirs that help to lead our worship services during the school year.  Celebration Choir is open to youth and adults and meets at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays in the sanctuary, beginning October 1. Family Choir’s first session will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 6, in the Music Room of the school. Family Choir runs in two-month sessions and is open to children first grade and older, accompanied by an adult family member.

 

Contemporary Ensemble

Thank you to the members of Contemporary Ensemble who rehearse year-round to lead our Contemporary Worship services each weekend. We have especially enjoyed hearing students from St. John’s and the local high schools, and we welcome back our college students who are home for the summer.

Eileen Ritter, Music Director

 

SCRIP

The summer months are now here. People are enjoying the weather and the good times. There are many gift cards that can be used to purchase things for your good times. We have gift cards for grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants, clothing stores, home improvement stores etc. that can be used to enhance your good time. Each time you purchase the gift cards through our SCRIP program, you are giving money back to our school. We are pleased to say that our SCRIP program paid for all school textbooks and supplies these past years. You are helping our yearly church budget each time you buy our SCRIP. If you have company picnics this summer and prizes are given that day, why not suggest you give gift cards and purchase them through us? SCRIP is available every Sunday morning between services. If you need SCRIP during the week this summer, please contact Connie Behm, (616) 842-6518 or Debbie Luytjes, (616) 846-9486.

Connie Behm, SCRIP Coordinator

MONEY MATTERS!

The borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7

According to experts, one of the three leading causes of marriage breakdown is money. One spouse keeps on spending, while the other insists on saving. Many couples consistently spend more than they make. Commercials urge us to “buy now and pay later.” Popular stores promise a year free of making payments, and credit card companies offer interest-free purchasing for six months.

But let’s listen to what the Bible says about debt. Romans 13:8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.” Proverbs 22:7 warns us that being in debt makes us like slaves or servants. Many couples have become slaves to their debt by buying what they can’t afford and don’t need.

Some of us need to change our lifestyles. All of us have to learn to live within our means. We need to learn to spend wisely. Christians have the responsibility to “manage their money.” Money matters: it can break up a marriage. Some churches offer stewardship classes regularly and provide Christian financial counselors to help us manage our money.

If, after using every means available, we still cannot make ends meet, perhaps we ought to ask ourselves if we are giving to the Lord what belongs to him. According to Haggai 1:2-11, if we short-change the Lord, we’ll never have enough.

Prayer:
Lord our God, help us to be faithful stewards of the resources you entrust to us. Teach us to use our money well, knowing that everything we have belongs to you. In Jesus, Amen.

Rev. Arthur J. Schoonveld (printed from Today Daily Devotions)

P.S. This is true for our congregation as well, and we will be working hard during this fiscal year to make it happen.

 

 

 

Values in Action

Typically when we discuss worship we immediately think about going to Church on Sunday morning and we pick the Worship service that fits our idea of worship. Worship is one of our core values and just like service, evangelism, and missions, worship also implies an action be taken on our part. This is our values in action!

If you attended the Lutherans on the Lake celebration at the Waterfront Stadium on June 17th during the Torch Rally, you may remember Mr. Britton the musician define for us what worship means. He stated that worship is our response to God!! Our response to God who loves us so much he sent his Son to redeem us. God who loves us so much he gives us our daily blessings and all that we need to live life here on earth. God who loves us so much that He is always there to guide us and comfort us when we feel things just aren’t right. God who loves us so much that he offers his forgiveness when we grumble or when we turn away from him. This is the love of God which certainly exceeds our capacity to understand it. 

What we can understand and what we all know as Christians is that we are to give God thanks, glory and praise for this undying love. Our response to God is to worship him. As I said earlier, we traditionally think of worship as attending Church services. We sing, we pray, we recite the creed, we confess, we receive absolution and basically go through our liturgy. These conventional liturgical actions are indeed good forms of worship and have been used by the Church through the ages. The Holy Spirit has blessed us with gifts of voice and music and oration and stewardship so that we may come together as the Body of Christ and offer up our worship and praise to our Lord and Savior. 

However our individual response to God is just as important as the corporate worship. We can pray privately and silently. We can ask and receive forgiveness individually. We can sing or hum our favorite hymns whether we are alone on the deck or shopping in the mall or even at work (go ahead just try it and see if anyone joins in with you.) We can volunteer to perform service, just as many of you did in last months service project and many of you do by serving on various committees and boards of our Church. These are all actions showing our response (worship) to God.

One area of our response that requires attention is in the finances for our Church and School. Yes, this is also a part of worship, our response to God. I am reminded of the sacrifices God demanded from the children of Israel as they wandered through the dessert. They were told exactly how much of their livestock and possessions they were to give to the Lord. If one reads through Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers and realizes what God was demanding of them, it is hard to imagine they had any rams or bulls left by the time they got to their destination.  However their trust and faith in God was all that was necessary for them to realize that God always will provide.                                    

Can we respond to the Love of God with the same faith and trust that will result in a financially strong Church and School here at St John’s? As we sing and pray and recite, let us also give. May the honor and the glory and the praise be His forevermore.

Wayne Kohn, Board of Parish Education Director